


best friends, ex-friends 'til the end

by mememorrowover



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: +, ++, ++-, .9, 0058551, Abuse, Cheating, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hospitalization, M/M, Multi, Personas - Not RPF, Physical Abuse, Recovery, Revenge Sex, Sexual Abuse, Suicide Attempt, sexual content is alluded to but not described
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:54:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29837031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mememorrowover/pseuds/mememorrowover
Summary: "It wasn't entirely a lie; he had originally gone over with the intention of being Dream's test dummy, and the first few bruises had been some clever eyeshadow, as well as how Dream was more like family to him than his own father at times. He certainly had no plans of getting into contact with water anywhere near his father anytime soon, however, rubbing idly at the concealer slathered carefully on his neck.All things considered, last night was a mistake he never intended on repeating."Sapnap finds himself stuck as the middle man between his two feuding friends, and all the hurt that comes from the two biggest drama queens in the whole town. He can only pray it wouldn't be like this forever.
Relationships: Background Skephalo - Relationship, Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Kudos: 17





	best friends, ex-friends 'til the end

**Author's Note:**

> title is from Bang the Doldrums by Fall Out Boy.
> 
> if you recognize my writing style no you didn't. ask to tag

"'If that twink doesn't stop bugging me I swear to God I'll take his man,' huh?"

"... Yeah."

"And the next one is you wearing his hoodie, and– and hickeys on your neck? Did you—"

"— It was a joke, Dad. I promise, it was fake. We didn't do anything," his cheeks burn with shame, avoiding meeting his father's eyes.

"It's okay if you— I know you're an adult. You can do whatever you want, I just want to make sure you're being safe," Bad assures with a heavy sigh. Sapnap's eyes stay locked on the wall behind the older man, making a split-second decision that his dad didn't need to know; it was only a one time thing anyway.

"He wanted to test out special effects makeup, besides, I've known Dream for years, he's like my brother," he asserts, and Bad raises his hands in a plactating motion. It wasn't entirely a lie; he had originally gone over with the intention of being Dream's test dummy, and the first few bruises had been some clever eyeshadow, as well as how Dream was more like family to him than his own father at times. He certainly had no plans of getting into contact with water anywhere near his father anytime soon, however, rubbing idly at the concealer slathered carefully on his neck.

All things considered, last night was a mistake he never intended on repeating.

"Ok, just– you can tell me anything, you know I won't be mad," his father promises, and he nods, lost in his own thoughts. Unthinkingly, he heads for the bathroom, waving off Bad's concern. He makes sure to slip the lock on the door, undresses, and turns the shower on to its hottest setting. As he examines the grip shaped bruises dotting his wrist, he can barely feel the water slipping through his fingers.

Blinking, he finds himself already showered, rivulets of now cold water trailing from his hair, eyes locked on the dark spots trailing from his neck to his chest. He runs a tentative hand across his shoulder blades, turning slightly as he traces the angry, red lines and lets out a sigh. Suddenly, he thinks about how lucky he was for never wearing anything less than long sleeves, even on the peak of summer days. His train of thought returns to his feelings toward Dream, and the evidence that anything beyond platonic happened almost makes him sick to his stomach.

He remembers running around the streets, aged 7 and carefree, Dream chasing him down and yelling with playful anger about the prank he just pulled. Never would he have imagined they would— he didn't want to think about it. Knocking at the door sharply cuts off his thoughts, his other dad's voice coming concerned through the door.

"You've been in there a while, you okay?" Skeppy calls, and his heart jumps into his throat. Bad seeing him like this was uncomfortable, at the very least, but he couldn't imagine the reaction he'd get from Skeppy.

"I'm good!" he calls back, panicking as he slips back into the clothes he came in with. The water still clung to his skin darkens the fabric lightly, and his dark hair still sits like a dead rat against his skull, but all he can focus on is dabbing more concealer over the hickeys, face beginning to burn. Reluctantly, he opens the door, hoping to avoid whatever prying his dad is about to do; he's nothing if not predictable, so Skeppy will instantly know something is wrong because that's the only time he ever showers during the day.

To his surprise, the only thing that accompanies him in the hall is the far off low voices of both of his parents. He takes the opportunity to practically sprint to his room, rubbing a hand down his face as he lays in bed. Briefly, he glances at his phone when it goes off, ignoring the text in favour of the several Snapchat messages.

Several of his friends were going off about his story last night, some congratulating, but most concerned. He doesn't bother responding to most of them, simply sending back a peace sign to those he talked to more regularly. He makes sure to turn off the ringer as he places it face down next to him, burying his face in his pillows and comforter. He faintly registers one of his dads lay a hand on his back before leaving the room, slipping into an uneasy sleep shortly thereafter.

Sapnap finds himself sprawled out on one of George's chairs, uncomfort settling in his gut like stones. When the man had invited him over a week later, he'd reluctantly accepted, aware that he needed to face the consequences of his actions sooner or later. George didn't seem to be acting any out of the ordinary, which is what reasonably concerned Sapnap the most. There was no doubt in his mind that George knew; he'd certainly assumed so from the enraged paragraphs he had gotten some time after. 

George re-enters the room, drinks in hand and a slight smirk. Sapnap takes his, nodding in thanks, and takes a tentative sip.

"I'm not trying to poison you, you know," George laughs, taking a drink of his own.

"I'd figured you'd want to after those texts," Sapnap retorts, trying to cover his nerves. George looks almost… sheepish?

"Yeah, that– sorry," he trails off. The genuine remorse in his voice takes Sapnap aback.

"I thought you, like, hated me and stuff... Why apologize?" he asks, uncertain.

George shrugs, taking another sip and setting it on his desk while he collects his thoughts.

"I am a little mad at you, but it mostly comes down to the fact that it was something Dream decided to go through with. You don't control his choices, so I can really only blame you for going after him knowing we were together, which is not as much of a big deal, to be honest," he explains, and Sapnap nods, relief washing over him.

He cares about George, a lot in fact; they're practically best friends, and when he'd come to enough to realize what he'd done, he'd feared for the future of their friendship. George, all things considered, was handling this extremely, suspiciously well, but Sapnap decided to ignore it in favour of good standing with his friend. They banter a bit, like usual— the familiarity making Sapnap smile— as they mess about on various video games, until the sun fully dips below the horizon.

George turns to Sapnap, suddenly, with an unreadable glint in his eyes.

"Can I ask you a favour?" he requests innocently. Sapnap nods, not really paying attention, until suddenly George is straddling his hips. His face burns, looking up into the dark eyes of his friend. "I think Dream deserves a little payback."

His whisper has a dangerous edge to it, one that makes Sapnap squirm. On the list of things he expected, however, this was a bit higher than he first thought. It wasn't that the possibility hadn't crossed his mind, just that he had deemed it so unlikely he didn't even bother.

"All I wanna do is leave hickeys, we don't have to do anything other than that. I will literally pay you for concealer," George explains after a painful silence. Well, that didn't sound… too bad, Sapnap supposes.

"Just– just hickeys," he confirms, George's nod relieving the discomfort weighing on his chest. He could do those, those didn't have to mean anything. He grimaces slightly at the thought of having to hide them from his dads again— but he could manage, it's not a big deal— tilting his head to bare his throat regardless.

He didn't quite understand hickeys; maybe he was just overly sensitive, but the pain way out-weighed anything else. They looked nice, in theory, he supposes, but he didn't quite think it was worth it. He briefly wonders if the pain is the reason George is doing this in the first place.

His breath catches in his throat as a cold hand meets the warm flesh of his belly. He tries to ignore the whimper that escapes his own throat; this meant nothing to him, he didn't want anything more than the hickeys. George's lips find his own, one hand gently cradling his chin while the other grips at his hip. Kissing back despite himself, he ignores the fire kindling in his stomach, ignores the pressure in his chest. 

"I'd take this as an apology, you know," George offers lowly in his ear, trailing his hand down to Sapnap's other hip. 

He didn't want this. He barely even wanted the hickeys, he was promised it didn't have to go further... Wasn't he? But George— an apology. That's all it had to be, it didn't have to mean anything, they could go back to normal after. He owed his friend an apology, and if this was what he wanted… He'd have to relent.

Sapnap wakes the next morning violently ill, barely making it to the bathroom in time. He frowns at the bowl now holding his stomach contents, wiping at his mouth with his sleeve. It was probably the regret that seemed to make every part of his body ache, his head pounding as he wipes the sweat from his forehead. George lingers in the doorway, Sapnap straightening himself out and cleaning up the mess.

"I think I'm just gonna go home," he answers the unasked question, clearly miserable. George nods, disappearing briefly before returning with Sapnap's bag. They exchange a silent look, before Sapnap heads out.

He decides to walk home, in favour of letting the cool breeze calm him from the panic rising to his throat. The late summer sun envelops his exposed skin, warm like the kisses that were pressed against his skin last night. The thought makes his face burn; he hopes he can pass it off as the heat.

He adjusts his collar hastily as he approaches the house, hoping to hide his shame. It's quiet as he enters, to his relief and discomfort. He changes his clothes, plugging in his phone as he hadn't bothered to last night. The first notification he receives is a series of texts from Dream, causing a groan to escape his lips.

The picture haunts him as he goes to view the conversation, the whole night a blur.

_Dream: you're fucking kidding._

_Dream: you slept with george?_

_Dream: sapnap answer me._

He very much did not want to do that. Tucking his knees into his chest, he lays on his side until another barrage of texts causes his phone to vibrate like he was getting called.

_Dream: you two are seriously ridiculous._

_George: You're seriously a hypocrite._

_Dream: and we couldn't have just._

_Dream: talked about this?_

_George: You didn't seem to want to do much talking, either._

_George: Your mouth must have been busy with something else._

_Dream: george._

_Dream: come on._

_George: No, Dream, you "come on."_

_George: You fucked up and haven't even tried to apologize yet._

_Dream: bullshit._

_Dream: i've said i was sorry more times than i could count._

_George: Literally doesn't count._

_Dream: literally how?_

Sapnap sets the phone down, barely even noticing how rapid his breathing is becoming. Nausea hits him once again, and the room begins spinning around him. This isn't what he wanted, he didn't even mean to– but it was still his fault, he needed to make things right. How was he going to? The thought that he had ruined both his friendships makes it feel like his chest is set to burst.

Gripping the porcelain like his life depended on it, his knees hit the tile floor and he vomits once again within an hour, leaving him mostly dry-heaving. He brings a shaking hand up to his mouth to cover his sobs, the other pulling desperately at his hair as he prays his little breakdown goes unheard.

No such luck, as there's a single knock at the door before it pushes open hesitantly. Skeppy kneels beside him, pulling Sapnap into his arms and running a gentle hand through his hair. He shakes violently in his father's hold, suppressing his cries to mere whimpers while he desperately gulps for air to calm himself as fast as possible.

Skeppy rubs soothing circles on his back while he’s fairly certain he’s beat some sort of record for fastest breakdown ever. The thought almost makes him laugh. 

Gratefully accepting the toilet paper he’s handed, he sniffs as he rubs his cheeks raw, which in hindsight only served to make him look worse. After his breathing has fully returned to him, he glances over sheepishly at Skeppy, lie already souring on his tongue.

“I think I just ate something bad,” Sapnap assures before his father even has the time to open his mouth. Skeppy’s mouth draws taut, visibly doing the mental calculations, before deciding to drop it with an awkward smile. Hopefully, he doesn’t notice the breath of relief Sapnap lets deflate him, resting his back against the sink cabinets and closing his eyes. At some point of the darkness blanketing his numb brain, he feels his father get up from beside him and hears the water start running, a lukewarm rag gently wiping at his mouth. He looks up groggily, expression a bit more pathetic than he would have liked, only getting a patient smile in return from his father.

Properly cleaned up, Sapnap heads back to his room and nearly collapses back onto the bed. He thinks he must have fallen asleep, briefly, as the sun isn’t quite in the same position as when his head initially hit his pillow. A LED notification light blinks urgently at him from across the comforter, dread once again building in his empty stomach as he reaches to check it. Beyond the usual junk that clutters his phone, a series of headache-inducing texts to his groupchat with Dream and George, as well as a few Snapchat messages he never bothered to even check. Once again opening the conversation, he pales.

Shit.


End file.
